Rate of Family Violence Among Patients With Schizophrenia in Japan

Kageyama, M., Yokoyama, K., Nagata, S., Kita, S., Nakamura, Y., Kobayashi, S., & Solomon, P. (2015). Rate of Family Violence Among Patients With Schizophrenia in Japan. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 27(6), pp. 652–660. © 2015 APJPH. DOI: 10.1177/101053951559506

Augmin-dependent microtubule nucleation at microtubule walls in the spindle

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Cell Biology 202 (2013): 25-33, doi:10.1083/jcb.201304031.The formation of a functional spindle requires microtubule (MT) nucleation from within the spindle, which depends on augmin. How augmin contributes to MT formation and organization is not known because augmin-dependent MTs have never been specifically visualized. In this paper, we identify augmin-dependent MTs and their connections to other MTs by electron tomography and 3D modeling. In metaphase spindles of human cells, the minus ends of MTs were located both around the centriole and in the body of the spindle. When augmin was knocked down, the latter population of MTs was significantly reduced. In control cells, we identified connections between the wall of one MT and the minus end of a neighboring MT. Interestingly, the connected MTs were nearly parallel, unlike other examples of end–wall connections between cytoskeletal polymers. Our observations support the concept of augmin-dependent MT nucleation at the walls of existing spindle MTs. Furthermore, they suggest a mechanism for maintaining polarized MT organization, even when noncentrosomal MT initiation is widespread.This work was supported by the Next Generation grant (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), Human Frontier Science Program, James A. and Faith Miller Memorial Fund (to G. Goshima), the Hori Sciences and Arts Foundation, the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant, the Kazato Research foundation (to T. Kamasaki), and the National Institutes of Health (8P41GM103431-42 to A. Hoenger). T. Kamasaki was a recipient of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science postdoctoral fellowship.2014-01-0

Abnormal Liver Function in Patients with Sjogren\u27s Syndrome

We measured the liver function tests of 145 patients with Sjogren\u27s syndrome (SjS) (75 patients with primary SjS, 70 patients with secondary SjS), and characterized the SjS patients with abnormal liver function tests from several points of view : 1, the incidence of them in the primary SjS comparing with that in secondary SjS. 2, the staining pattern of anti-nuclear antibodies, and 3, the existence of antihepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen, and antibody against human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). Abnormal liver function tests were detected in 38 out of 145 patients (26.2%) with SjS. Fifteen of the 38 patients (20.0%) had primary SjS while the remaining patients (32.9%) had secondary SjS. Histopathological examination identified primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in 2 patients, autoimmune hepatitis in 4 patients, and autoimmune cholangitis in a single patient with SjS. No significant difference in the presence of antinuclear antibody (ANA) was found between SjS patients with and without abnormal liver function tests. However, the incidence of discrete speckled pattern was significantly higher in SjS patients with abnormal liver function than in the patients with normal liver function. Two sera showing cytoplasmic pattern of ANA were also positive for anti-mitochondrial M2 antibody, allowing the diagnosis of PBC. All 11 sera exhibiting discrete speckled pattern contained significant amounts of anti-centromere antibody. Abnormal liver function tests were detected in 8 of 11 sera with these antibodies, 2 patients with PBC, 2 patients with autoimmune hepatitis, one patient with autoimmune cholangitis, one patient with chronic hepatitis B and 2 other patients with unconfirmed diagnosis. The percentages of anti-HCV antibody-positive, HBs-Agpositive and anti-HTLV-I antibody-positive in sera of patients were higher than those of blood donors from the same geographical area. However, no significant difference was seen of these percentages in sera between the patients with and without abnormal liver function. Taken together, present study indicated that SjS patients with anti-centromere antibody may have some susceptibility for acquiring autoimmune liver disease

The association of C-reactive protein with an oxidative metabolite of LDL and its implication in atherosclerosis

C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular disease. We have previously reported that oxidized LDL (oxLDL) interacts with beta 2-glycoprotein I (beta 2GPI), implicating oxLDL/P2GPI complexes as putative autoantigens in autoimmune-mediated atherosclerotic vascular disease. In this study, we investigated the interaction of CRP with oxLDL/beta 2GPI complexes and its association with atherosclerosis in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). CRP/oxLDL/R2GPI complexes were predominantly found in sera of DM patients with atherosclerosis. In contrast, noncomplexed CRP isoforms were present in sera of patients with acute/chronic inflammation, i.e., various pyrogenic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and DM. Immunohistochemistry staining colocalized CRP and beta 2GPI together with oxLDL in carotid artery plaques but not in synovial tissue from RA patients, strongly suggesting that complex formation occurs during the development of adierosclerosis. Serum levels of CRP correlated with soluble forms of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and oxLDL/beta 2GPI complexes correlated with total cholesterol and hemoglobin Al c. Thus, the generation of CRP/oxLDL/beta 2GPI complexes seems to be associated with arterial inflammation, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia. CRP/oxLDL/R2GPI complexes can be distinguished from pyrogenic noncomplexed CRP isoforms and may represent a more specific and predictive marker for atherosclerosis

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

プログラミング演習 Python 2023

This textbook is a translation of the Japanese version referred to as “Puroguramingu-Enshuu Python 2023 (プログラミング演習 Python 2023).”English translation from Japanese version was supported by Center for Innovative Research and Education in Data Science, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University as one of its activities in development of learning materials and their publication.This textbook was written for a (Python) programming exercises course as part of Kyoto University’s Liberal Arts and Sciences courses.In the 2023 version, some misprints were corrected, some hard-to-read portions were edited, and some additional explanations given during the 2022 course were added. The square root calculation that was used as an exercise in Chapter 3 has been improved and added as its own section in Chapter 4. In addition, portions on Python program termination were added to the chapter on control flow (Chapter 6), and various practical exercises covering material through Chapter 7 were added as Chapter 8. Furthermore, ways of defining the turtle shape in the turtle graphics chapter (Chapter 10) have been added, and a simple exercise to help introduce tkinter was added to chapter 11 alongside improvements to the explanation. Image display has also been added to the widget. An example of an error that can occur during function calls was added to chapter 19.For typesetting of source code, we use K2PFE font.K2PFE font used in this textbook were developed as a collaborative research by Professor Akihisa Tatsumi, Part-time Lecturer Maya Kusunoki of Kyoto City University of Art, Dr. Tamaki Motoki of Kyoto University and Hajime Kita one of the authors of this textbook. It is partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP21K02880